Attentional Focus Practice

This 20-minute guided practice is part of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and supports listeners in finding an anchor (hands, feet, base of the spine, or breath) for developing and maintaining present-moment focus.

Transcript

This is the Attentional Focus Meditation for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. We'll begin by coming into a comfortable, Supported sitting posture, If that's possible for you in your body today. Finding a stable, Upright position that allows you to be both alert and relaxed, Both feet on the floor, Bottom comfortably positioned in the chair. If your body has a tendency to tilt a little bit forward, You can simply notice that and come into a position with the head toward the sky, Shrugging the shoulders a little bit if that's useful. And selecting an anchor for this practice, A point of contact in the body or the environment that is always available to come back to. This might be the sensations related to the feet making contact with the floor. Your anchor may be the base of the spine, The tailbone. It may be that the hands bring you back to the present moment, That they are what are most available and natural to anchor you. Perhaps today what's most natural is connecting to the rise and fall of the breath as it's felt at the nostrils, Chest or belly. The inhale and the exhale, Rising and falling. Or your anchor may be the soundscape, The noises that rise and fall, Always changing. Sounds coming from within you possibly, Like the sound of the breath, Hearing the sound of my voice close to your ears, Making yourself available to other sounds as well, Sounds nearby close, Or sounds coming from further away, The always changing soundscape. This is an anchor just for today, Just for this meditation, Supporting us so that as we sit we have a way to come back to the present moment that's connected to the body or the environment. When our mind wanders as it inevitably will, Pulling us forward, Backward, Planning or remembering, There's always the choice to come back to the anchor, To this present moment. Letting yourself just be here. Nowhere to go, Nothing to do, Practicing being right here, Relaxed and alert. Letting yourself just be here. Bringing gentle curiosity to this moment. Gently, Firmly coming back to this moment again and again. Gently, Firmly opening yourself up to this moment. Often when we sit in meditation, We just sit here. What we begin to notice is how busy the mind often is. Sometimes noticing judgments like, Shouldn't my mind be quieter or shouldn't more be happening or am I doing this wrong? If there's some kind of judgment or comparison, Idea of what should be happening that you're experiencing right now, Simply knowing that that's what's going on. Oh, It's like this right now. Oh, Judgment. Always having the choice to come back to your anchor. VenerableAL whom we Buildingup of and Who We are Oftentimes, In meditation, When things are quiet around us, We begin to tune in more to what we like and don't like about our experience. We notice desire. I'd like this to be different. I want more of this. After this meditation, I'm going to go do this. This is normal. There's nothing wrong with this. It may also be that there's a noticing of parts of your experience you'd like to push away. You may be noticing impatience, Restlessness, Sleepiness, Irritation. These two are normal. No need to act on them, But also no need to push them away. Really noticing them, Just like we'd notice a car passing by, A bird flying overhead. There may, Too, Be a noticing of unpleasant sensations, Pain even in the body, Or unpleasant thoughts, Difficult thoughts. This, Too, Is part of the experience of being human. Pain offers a choice to us. If it's physical pain, You may choose to change or shift your position, Your posture, Doing so mindfully, Paying close attention to the body as you shift and adjust your position. You may choose to investigate the painful sensations. What is this that I'm experiencing right now? Is it possible to offer gentle curiosity here? Sometimes it is possible, And sometimes it's quite skillful to adjust positions. Neither choice is better than the other, Discerning moment to moment what your body is calling for in this moment. And then there's always the choice to shift awareness or attention away from the unpleasant sensation and come back to either your anchor or an area of the body that feels more neutral, Skillfully, Mindfully shifting attention as called for in the moment. Returning again and again to ask, What's here? Finding our idea of what should be here. Drop away. Making room for our actual lived experience of the moment. Knowing that if there is difficulty in the mind, It can be skillful to place a hand on the heart area and come back to the anchor as best we can, Offering gentle attention, Much like we'd offer someone we love who was in pain. Sensing in to our experience. Touching in to our body, Our anchor. Relaxed. Alert. Relaxed. Awake. Cultivating a stable attention by bringing the mind back again and again and again. What's here now? What does this moment have to tell you? And then completing this meditation by taking a few intentional, Full breaths in and out and connecting with the body as a whole, If that's natural for you right now. And then if the eyes are closed, Slowly allowing them to open, Completing this meditation.

Reviews

Loved this!!

Thank you for this very spacious and relaxing meditation.